Wherein an adult student of oboe chronicles her adventures in music, medicine, and faith, and other stories...
“Novelists, opera singers, even doctors, have in common the unique and marvelous experience of entering into the very skin of another human being. What can compare with it?” -Willa Cather

Saturday, May 21, 2011

How I Spent "Judgment Day" 2011

If you knew, or thought you knew, when the world was going to end, would you change the way you live your life?

I never believed in preacher Harold Camping's prediction that the Rapture would occur today. Even if Jesus himself hadn't said plainly that no one can know the day or the hour, Camping's calculations would still have held no merit, based as they were on a) a literal interpretation of the Bible and b) a calendar that failed to take Dionysus Exiguus into account. But I did follow some of the media coverage around this phenomenon with interest. It generated questions like, "What makes people willing to take such risky actions for the sake of one fallible man's ideas?" and "What would you change about your life if you knew it was ending - SOON?"

I was pleased to realize that the answer to the latter was "not much." I'd still go to work and do my job - but keep it part-time, or make it even MORE part-time. I'd still spend as much time enjoying my family's company as I could. And if today had really been our last day, I would have been truly happy to have spent it as we did today.

My husband and I had a long, relaxing lunch outdoors. The weather was perfect - sunny, breezy, dry, in the 70's. The food was delicious. Later in the day we went to a fair two towns over. I love small town fairs; they evoke simpler times, happy families, and friendly communities with something to celebrate. The best thing about this particular fair was the presence of a book tent, where my husband and I spent contented hours browsing through tables laden with used books while the kids enjoyed the games and rides outside. Back home I concocted some Thai-spiced burgers for a late dinner, and they were yummy. It was a day full of all the things I enjoy and the people I love most. If the world had actually ended, I would have counted myself blessed to have known such lovely moments.

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About Me

I'm a wife & mom. I'm a doctor too. I listen to classical Christmas carols all year round (they make me happy). I also love to read, write, cook, eat, dance, play music, and ponder things. I do a lot of my pondering here.

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Practicalities

1. Please don't take anything you read here as medical advice.2. Please be courteous when leaving comments.3. Comments reflect only the opinions of the individuals leaving them; I won't delete them, even if they go against my own opinions and beliefs, UNLESS they are written offensively or disrespectfully.4. All patient identifiers have been removed or altered to protect patient privacy. Most other proper names used here have been changed as well, unless the change has seemed unnecessary for fairly obvious reasons, or the individuals named somehow indicated to me that they did not mind being identified.

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Journal Club (added 5/30/07)

In med school & residency there was "Journal Club" - a kill-me-now-to-put-me-out-of-my-freakish-misery type of exercise during which we were supposed to exchange ideas about a paper from an academic medical publication. I couldn't think of a less appealing way to spend my time.
But here's a different kind of Journal Club - the FUN kind. Pick a journal writing question, write a response, get together with a bunch of friends who love to do this kind of thing, read your answers to each other, and share thoughts. Make up your own questions, write, & read some more. Make sure you have lots of good food and drink to share!

Journal Writing Questions

Why do you write?

What is your idea of success?

What do you spend enormous amounts of energy on? Why?

Who / what has influenced you?

What belief do you hold most dear? What does your faith consist of? What do you refuse to believe?

If you could interview anyone, living or dead, fictional or real, whom would you choose and why?